CNN’s Brooke Baldwin Doubles Down on Opposition to ‘M Word’

(Updated)

CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin doubled down on her decision to call out people for using the "M word," mob, to describe liberal protesters against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

CBS's "The Late Show" host Stephen Colbert asked Baldwin on Tuesday night about a recent segment on her show where she called out Daily Beast columnist Matt Lewis for calling protesters a "mob."

"You said one of your guests called Democratic protesters a mob," Colbert said. "And you said we're not going to use the ‘M' word around here."

"I did, I did," Baldwin said.

"You got a lot of flak for that. What happened?" Colbert asked.

"So we had Matt Lewis on, who I love having on, from the Daily Beast, and he brought up the word ‘mob.' And at the time the mob word had been this talking point for Republicans from all up and down Capitol Hill in the wake of what had happened with Dr. Ford and Justice Kavanaugh. So when he brought the mob word up again, I called him out," Baldwin said. "And, listen, like, I don't want to be the word police, and that was not my intention. But I also believe in calling out talking points and to hear him bring that up. I had to— I had to say something."

Lewis responded to Baldwin's comments by tweeting, "With all due respect, I don’t do ‘talking points.’"

For days during Kavanaugh's confirmation battle, people protested in the Capitol and in front of the Supreme Court, with some confronting lawmakers in elevators. Before Kavanaugh was confirmed, protesters harassed Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) when he was out to dinner with his wife. The protesters yelled and demanded to know how Cruz was going to vote on Kavanaugh until they chased the senator and his wife out of the restaurant.

When Kavanaugh was confirmed, protesters stormed the steps of the Supreme Court and "besieged" the door of the high court by banging on it.

Baldwin repeated a talking point from Democrats like Rep. Gerry Connolly (D., Va.), who criticized the word "mob" in an interview with the Hill.

"Honestly, at the end of my day – I'm sure you check your twitter, too – if I have irked the left and the right, then I have done my job," Baldwin told Colbert.

She didn't give an example of when she had irked the left. She has, however, been criticized for appearing to take the liberal side on some issues, such as gun control.

Andrew KugleEmail | Full Bio | RSSAndrew Kugle is the assistant social media editor for the Washington Free Beacon. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in 2013. Prior to joining the Free Beacon, he worked as a Staff/Press Assistant for South Dakota Congresswoman Kristi Noem. Andrew is from De Pere, Wisconsin and lives in D.C. His Twitter handle is @AndrewJKugle. You can reach him at kugle@freebeacon.com.